Manchester man given eight months jail for cop-killer T-shirt

A man has been sentenced to a total of eight months in prison by a Manchester court for wearing a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments referring the murders of PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes.

Barry Thew, of Radcliffe, Greater Manchester admitted to a Section 4A Public Order Offence today (11 October) for wearing the T-shirt, on which he had written the messages ”One less pig; perfect justice” and “killacopforfun.com haha”.

Inspector Bryn Williams, of the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “To mock or joke about the tragic events of that morning is morally reprehensible and Thew has rightly been convicted and sentenced for his actions.”

Thew had been reported to police after wearing the article around three-and-a-half hours after the officers were shot dead in Greater Manchester on 2 October.

I totally disagree with all the comments about “free speech”
How can we support the right of free speech no matter what is said or written?
We have just extradited the man with a hook; and quite rightly so, for he was preaching Jihad and the killing of people… Where is the difference between him and a man walking the streets with a tee shirt (placard) saying “killacopforfun”..?
How far are the “free speechers” prepaired to go.
What if the next low life to appears on the streets with a tee shirt saying “rape a grandmother for fun” or “shag-an-infant.com”….. !!!
Wake up you lot…. It’s time to make a stand for morality!!!!
Beermatman

Irene Henning

11 October at 17:38

This is clearly a very foolish person, but a jail sentence of any length is equally foolish. And very worrying. Doesn’t seem British, somehow, more the sort of thing you expect in repressive societies.

Mike Smith

11 October at 17:08

Im not liking where the UK is heading with this ban on free speech, ok this guy was foolish and the facebook guy was just a knob but its still their opinion and they are entitled to it. Perhaps we’re just getting ready for losing all of our rights when we become an islamic nation.

Oliver F

11 October at 16:29

This case is a very worrying and grotesque overreaction. Wearing this T-shirt was clearly unpleasant, insensitive and offensive. Arguably, as Inspector Bryn Williams stated, it was “morally reprehensible” but that does not necessarily mean that it was or should be a crime.

If we are going to start criminalising and imprisoning everyone who says or writes something stupid, insensitive or offensive then we are going to need to build a lot more prisons. You could even argue that a certain conservative politician should maybe be imprisoned if we are going to head down this road.

The proper response to incidents like this one, the Fabrice Muamba case, the April Jones joke case and others, is to reply with debate of the issues, criticism, condemnation or to simply ignore them. Prosecutions and jail terms are a ludicrous overreaction that only brings our justice system into disrepute and damages freedom of speech and expression.

Index on Censorship magazine

What is the state of academic freedom in 2015? Index on Censorship magazine’s summer issue takes a global vantage point to explore all the current threats – governmental, economic and social – faced by students, teachers and academics. Also in this issue: Sir Harold Evans, AC Grayling, Tom Holland and Xinran present their free-speech heroes.